Dawson Relishes Leinster's 'Tough Draw'

Next January Leinster could qualify for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals for the fourth time in five seasons. But having drawn London Wasps, Castres Olympique and Edinburgh in their pool, Michael Cheika's men will certainly be taking the qualification process one game at a time.

Leinster's approach to their pool campaign will be key as they have a couple of teams in their pool who overturned them in recent seasons.

Wasps got the better of Leinster at the quarter-final stage and the province also have a long-running European history with Edinburgh.

Incredibly, this is the third successive year that the Magners League rivals have been pitted against each other in the European pool.

French outfit Castres are new opponents for Michael Cheika's squad to contend with, and speaking after Tuesday's Heineken Cup pool draw, Leinster Chief Executive Mick Dawson agreed that the pool set-up presents a number of challenges.

"It's a tough draw, but there are a lot of good teams in this tournament. We bought into the new system, so we will just go ahead and deal with what we've got," Dawson said.

"There are four very competitive teams in the pool and we know how hard it is to win in Edinburgh. Any French team is going to be hard to beat, while London Wasps have had huge success in the Heineken Cup.

"They have won it twice and beat us convincingly in the quarter-finals in 2007 on their way to winning the title again at Twickenham. The real challenge, though, is going to be getting out of this pool."

Dawson also confirmed that the Leinster squad list is almost complete for next season, with one more player, rumoured to be Australia flanker Rocky Elsom, set to sign for the province in the coming weeks.

"We have about 34 guys, everything is signed, sealed and delivered but we're not confirming anything yet.

"We have one to go and hopefully in the middle of next week we'll be able to confirm the squad."

The countdown is on to the Women's Sevens Dublin tournament in UCD on August 22-23. Anthony Eddy, IRFU Director of Rugby Sevens & Women's Rugby, previews what promises to be an exciting couple of days.

Tickets for the tournament start at 5 euro, with children free, and are available to buy here - http://www.ticketmaster.ie/Womens-Sevens-Series-tickets/artist/2134381?tm_link=artist_artistvenue_module.

Jenny Murphy talks about the progress made by the Ireland Women's Sevens team and their pool draw for the upcoming Women's Sevens Dublin tournament in UCD on August 22-23.

Tickets for the tournament start at 5 euro, with children free, and are available to buy here - http://www.ticketmaster.ie/Womens-Sevens-Series-tickets/artist/2134381?tm_link=artist_artistvenue_module.

Conor Murray and Tommy Bowe speak to Irish Rugby TV about their Rugby World Cup preparations and thank the thousands of supporters who came out to see the players at the open training session at the Sportsground.

Ireland captain Paul O'Connell gives his verdict on the team's new Rugby World Cup jersey and talks about his move to French club Toulon. Ireland's RWC 2015 range is available to pre-order now from http://shop.irishrugby.ie.

Anthony Eddy, IRFU Director of Rugby Sevens, talks about the target of a top three finish for both the Ireland Men and Women in Lisbon this weekend, as they continue on their quests for Olympic qualification.

Tom Daly, who recently captained the Ireland Men's Sevens team to the European Division C and B titles, is looking forward to playing in this weekend's Rugby Europe Olympic Repechage tournament in Lisbon, Portugal.

Ireland will host the 'Women's Sevens Dublin' at UCD on Saturday, August 22 and Sunday, August 23. Tournament director Garrett Tubridy and Ireland stars Lucy Mulhall, Jenny Murphy and Louise Galvin speak about their excitement ahead of the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series qualifier.

Coach Allen Clarke and stand-in captain Billy Holland answer questions from the media following Emerging Ireland's 45-12 victory over Georgia in the final round of their successful Tbilisi Cup campaign.

Emerging Ireland coach Allen Clarke speaks about his side's five-try 33-7 win over Uruguay in the Tbilisi Cup and the first half injury to captain Rhys Ruddock. They wrap up the tournament against hosts Georgia on Sunday.

Speaking about the floods that occurred following the Tbilisi Cup's first round, Emerging Ireland team manager Joey Miles said: "A natural event like that, a tragedy like that puts the game of rugby into perspective. We express our regrets to the Georgian people and the Georgian Union for the terrible tragedy that they had."

David O'Reilly from the IRFU Charitable Trust's Corporate Patrons Committee speaks about the new scheme which provides businesses with unique networking opportunities and provides a platform for companies to effectively activate their CSR programmes. For further information, please contact Linda Black of the Charitable Trust - telephone (01) 6473866 or email: linda.black@irfu.ie / http://www.irishrugby.ie/news/34728.php.